


Forty-Two

by knitmeapony



Category: The Unusuals, Warehouse 13
Genre: Crossover, Gen, chromatic_yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 20:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitmeapony/pseuds/knitmeapony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Eric Delahoy calls an old buddy from the ATF to look into his partner's curse</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forty-Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [katherine_tag](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine_tag/gifts).



_Good morning second squad, this is Dispatch reminding you that Golden Sun restaurant will no longer deliver to us thanks to what has officially been dubbed the Noodle Incident._  
  
\------   
  
"This. Is. _The coolest thing I have ever seen_."  Claudia threw herself across the room and on to the inflatable couch.  It made an ominous squeeking sound but managed to stay inflated.  
  
"Just be _careful._ "  The couch's owner was hovering near the wall, staying well back from everything and everyone.  
  
"Relax, Banks, relax.  She's not the one who's cursed, remember?  Jinks, man, thanks for coming."  Detective Delahoy extended a hand -- he wasn't smiling, but the firm handshake made it clear they were welcome.  "Jinks, this is my partner Leo Banks.  Leo, this is the guy I was telling you about."  
  
Claudia squirmed around on the inflatable sofa and dropped her head on the arm so she could peer, upside-down, at the nervous-looking black man pressed against the wall.  "Hi," she said with a grin.  "I'm Agent Claudia Donovan.  You must be the cursed guy."  
  
He squinted down at her, more suspicious than anything.  "Detective Leo Banks," he said.  "Yeah, I'm the... cursed guy.  You're an agent?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"With the _ATF_."  
  
"Nah, that's Jinksy."  
  
"But you're a federal agent."  He squinted as she nodded.  "And you're what, twelve?"  
  
She swung her feet to the ground and sat up so she could give him a bit of an evil eye.  "And you're what, forty-two?"  
  
"Hey, look, that's not funny..."  
  
Jinks and Delahoy watched them start to squabble, heads tilted in the same direction.  
  
"Should we break that up?"  
  
"Nah.  She's not dangerous."  Jinks grinned easily and turned.  "So how've you been?  I haven't seen you for what, six years?"  
  
Eric shook his head to pull his attention back to the present.  "About that, yeah.  I'm good.  Been good."   
  
That pinged hard on Steve's internal lie-detector, but some lies you just don't pick apart.  Not the just-being-nice lies of a guy who's more or less just a coworker.  Jinks just nodded meditatively and let his eyes skate over to where Leo and Claudia had somehow slid from squabbling to talking intently over her tablet in under a minute.  "That's good."

"You?"

"Yeah, good, good.  New job, all that."  There.  Awkward small talk was officially over.  "So, uh, you called me because of the weird, right?"

  
"Right, yeah." Delahoy cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders a little. "My partner here thinks he's cursed. Everyone in his family dies when they're forty-two. And I heard, you know, you'd gotten into the hinky stuff."  
  
"Not exactly hinky."  Jinks waggled his hand back and forth.  "More like..."  
  
"...hinky," Claudia confirmed from the couch.  "And Jinky.  Don't deny it, Jinksy."  She straightened a little.  "... there's a pun in there somewhere.  Hinky.  Jinky.  Jinksy.  Jinkies..."  
  
"Could we focus, maybe?"  Leo tugged on the bottom of his bullet-proof vest.  "Guy who's supposed to die, here?  So can you maybe you can do whatever voodoo it is that you do? You know, the hinky stuff?"  
  
Claudia nodded.  "It's not really voodoo. Well, some of it is voodooish.  Maybe more like magic."  
  
"It's not magic at all.  We just sometimes... we... find.... things."  Jinks trailed off as Claudia made a slashing motion at her throat. Damn.  Even after all this time, it was still hard to not tell trustworthy people.  Other agents, police officers, especially ones he'd worked with.  
  
Claudia shook her head.  "Ix-nay on the etails-day," she said firmly, and Jinks sighed.  
  
"Right.  We can't tell you much.  But if it's something we can handle, and if it's real..." he held up a hand when Leo moved to protest, "...just... if it's a real thing, it'll be a _thing_."  
  
"A _thing_."  Delahoy was giving them both a very skeptical look.  
  
"Yeah, like, a _thing_."  Claudia got up.  "Animal, vegetable, or mineral.  Probably mineral.  Usually mineral."  Her nose wrinkled as she remembered a certain very unfortunate flower.  "Hopefully mineral."  
  
"What kind of thing?  'Cause I really don't have a lot of _things_ around anymore."  
  
"It could be anything.  Probably old.  Probably not obviously dangerous, but... everybody, glove up."  Jinks pulled a double handful of purple gloves out of his pocket.  "I know it's not a crime scene," he said, off Eric's look, "but..."  
  
"Yet."  Leo reached for a pair of the gloves.  "It's not a crime scene yet.  So let's get looking.  Just, uh, I'll handle the bedroom."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  Claudia rummaged for artifact bags in her laptop case.  She grinned and waggled her eyebrows a little.  "No hiding whatever's under the mattress.  Weirder things have been artif... hinky things before."  
  
Eric gave Jinks a flat look.  "Do I want to know?"  
  
"Probably not."  Steve grinned easily.  "Just think: maybe she's kidding."  
  
They spread out and started searching the apartment, laying everything in every drawer and every cupboard out piece by piece so Claudia could follow behind with a bag and a little spray bottle.  
  
"What is she doing?"  Eric watched her more than he did the things he was stacking up, squinting suspiciously.    
  
"You don't want to know."  Steve shook his head.  "Trust me."  
  
"Guess not."  They sifted through the kitchen slowly, letting the silence get.. uncomfortable.   
  
Delahoy grasped at the first thread of conversation he could come up with.  "So, uh.  You still seeing that guy?"    
  
"Huh?  Oh, Mike.  Yeah, no.  It ended... well, I was still with the ATF when it ended.  It's actually been a while."  Jinks looked a little uncomfortable.  "What about you, wasn't there that waitress?"    
  
"Probably.  Not that I remember.  I never went for it, though."  Eric scowled down at the pile of blunt-tipped plastic silverware, mostly spoons.    
  
"Oh.  Anybody now?"  
  
"Nah.  Well, kind of.  But... nah.  You?"  
  
".... nope."  
  
Eric paused and shut the drawer carefully.  "You ever stop to think maybe we're the ones who are cursed?"  
  
Jinks grinned wryly.  "Yeah, maybe.  But at least we have our health, right?"  
  
Eric flinched.  "Yeah.  We've got that."  
  
That lie pinged damn hard -- and that one, Jinks couldn't let go.  "... oh."   
  
They both stopped and looked at one another for  minute.  
  
"Me, neither," said Jinks.  "You, uh, want to talk about it?"  
  
"Not really."  There was a longish pause.  "You?"  
  
"Nah.  Mine's kind of over and done."  
  
"Lucky you."  Eric snorted and pulled the next drawer open. : You're still doing that creepy thing with the lies though, huh?"  
  
"Oh yeah.  Makes me a big hit at parties."  
  
From the other room there was a sudden yelp and a crackle of something electric.  
  
"Found it!" Claudia yelled, unnecessarily.  "It's, um.  It's a."  
  
Jinks crossed the apartment to peer over her shoulder and into the bag.  "... it's a thing, all right."  
  
Banks looked at the three of them, and down at the bag.  "You're gonna tell me none of you have any idea what that is?"  He sighed at their blank expressions.  "Man, sometimes I feel like I was the only person who ever really went to school."  
  
"Hey, I liked school.  Well.  Ish.  To a point.  Mostly computer class.  And weirdly gym."  
  
"... you liked gym class?"  Jinks stared at his partner as if she'd grown another head.  
  
"Hey, we had all the fun toys.  Scooters.  Parachute."  Claudia shrugged.  "But we did not have one of these... thingies."  
  
"This is a genuine antique.  My Dad gave it to me -- he got it from his dad, who got it from some guy he worked for.  Closest thing we have to an heirloom.  Most people have scientists in their families, but not everybody has a thermometer that was owned by Celsius.  As in the Celsius."  Leo beamed at it, and took the bag so he could peer inside.  
  
"Remember how I said probably old?"  Jinks asked with a sigh.  "You didn't think to lead with the only actual antique in the whole place?"  
  
"... no I did not."  Leo didn't even have the grace to look embarassed, even after Delahoy caught him with an irritated glance.    
  
Claudia was already on her tablet.  "Huh. Wikipedia to the rescue.  Celsius's thermomenter, used to develop the most precise temperature measurement at the time and.... huh."  She glanced up.  "Did you know that Anders Celsius died when he was forty-two?"  
  
Leo dropped the bag like it was on fire and Jinks and Delahoy both scrambled to catch the delicate glass before it hit the ground.    
  
"Careful!"  Jinks cradled the bag in both hands.  "This is not the kind of thing you want to break."  
  
"So you think that's it?"  Leo took two steps back and peered at it as if it was a viper.    
  
"Maybe. Makes sense.  Celsius measured out everything in his life very carefully.  Maybe once he died, this started measuring out people's lives.  Cut them off when they reached the same age as Celsius."  Claudia winced.  "Man, that's creepy.  Here, gimme, I'm gonna go call Artie, see what he thinks.  Honestly, it could be a coincidence"  She stole the bag from Jinks and headed into the kitchen.  "Oh hey, if this is the thing?"  
  
Leo lifted his eyebrows.  "Yeah?"  
  
"Can I have your couch?" **  
**


End file.
